


Lost in the Starlight

by wisepuma23



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Being Lost, Gen, Horror, In the Maze, Inspired by The Twilight Zone, M/M, Mermaids on a Roadtrip, Spooky, what could go wrong???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 17:32:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16163591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisepuma23/pseuds/wisepuma23
Summary: A ficlet for teacupfulofstarshine's Lovely, Dark, and Deep fic! However, this can be read stand alone.Logan as a mermaid is visiting the human world for the first time. Specifically on a road trip. Virgil decided to swing by an old town he used to go to since their Halloween game was always on point. And nothing was more classic than a good ol' corn maze! Logan goes in, but does he come back out?





	Lost in the Starlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [teacupfulofbrains](https://archiveofourown.org/users/teacupfulofbrains/gifts).
  * Inspired by [lovely, dark, and deep](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15012674) by [teacupfulofbrains](https://archiveofourown.org/users/teacupfulofbrains/pseuds/teacupfulofbrains). 



> So I decided to take the prompt challenge by sanderssidesspook! However, my take on the challenge will be different. There are so many great AUs in this fandom that I want to write for, so might as well hit two birds with one stone, and write a Halloween ficlet for them!! Today I’ll start with teacupfulofstarshine LDAD AU + corn maze. Uhh, you’ll see!
> 
> Warnings: offscreen violence, swearing, implied death
> 
> Word Count: 1, 838

Logan didn’t want to go on this ‘road trip’ but Roman and Patton absolutely insisted on visiting the human world. Virgil, however, wanted to stick close to the coastlines and smell the sea spray and Logan was inclined to agree. Straying so far from home made his insides twist with a feeling he didn’t understand.

Unfortunately, Thomas needed to go inland for a conference. Something about a scientific meeting about rising coastlines and the implementation of hydroelectricity on a national scale. Human stuff.

His pod practically begged to go with Thomas, but after their traumatic parting three years ago, Logan couldn’t stay behind. So Virgil grudgingly decided to come with, as their tour guide, since Thomas would be preoccupied with meetings.

Virgil dropped Thomas off in a place with glittering mountains. He’s never seen them so tall and square. His fins rippled in excitement at the order of it all. In the streets, there were lights strung up through the trees and creatures that had him ducking down out of sight. He thought Virgil said there were no other creatures who had claws as Logan did. Or was he lying?

_Fake._

Logan mulled over the word as he squinted at the fake creatures. Virgil still giggled as they drove through the dark trees. He explained it all punctuated with muffled laughter. Halloween, what an odd word. 

His own smile tugged upwards. He would never tire of the sound of his mate’s laugh. Beautiful as the pearls in seashells. Roman and Patton squealed as their fins rippled as if in a storm as more creatures walked through the streets of the small town.

Their claws were fake. Plastic teeth and temporary makeup all for the purpose of a holiday. Whatever that is. Logan hissed as a small one with fangs and a black cape walked too close. It startled and ran off. Roman and Patton laughed. Almost like they enjoyed the feeling of fear. Logan rolled his eyes, then again, Roman was the one who often dove into the deep end without looking.

“Oooh, what’s that?” Patton pointed over Virgil’s shoulder, as Virgil yelped in surprise and almost yanked the wheel into the opposite lane.

Logan squinted at it in the darkness. It was a sign written in English with a giant yellow object above it. He dug his claws further into his sweater, his eyes worked far better underwater, up here they were useless. Glasses irritated his scales but he wore them anyway. Tch, he couldn’t protect his pod like this. What could he do? Flop around and squint?!

A hand tugged on his own, gently prying his claws out of his sweater, and squeezed. Logan met Virgil’s eyes, the same color as the world outside, brown and soft as the ground outside. The fist of icy anger in his chest melted. 

“It’s a sign for a corn maze,” Virgil said, excitement creeping into his tone, “They’re more popular around Halloween. I forgot that they had them here,” Virgil scratched his head, almost embarrassed as he admitted, “Corn mazes are one of the few cool things we have inland. You can’t exactly float up and over it like your reed farms.”

Logan’s face warmed as Virgil turned to him with a smile as the backseat chanted, “Yes, I would love to see a ‘corn maze’. It sounds...interesting.”

So, really it was his own fault.

Logan stared up at the stars and shivered under the coolness of the moonlight. The rustle of the corn like a steady heartbeat in his ears. The ground roiled with movement and scratching his poor eyesight couldn’t pick up. For all he knew, a shark could be circling him.

Virgil had given him and the others a wheelchair with a specially designed pouch for their tails. Then heavy blankets over their laps to keep their tails warm and covered. However, he hadn’t realized how hard it would be to push against the uneven grass and roots of the corn. Roman and Patton went on ahead, Logan encouraged Virgil to catch up, and he never did.

And so, he spent the better part of an hour utterly and hopelessly lost.

“It’ll be fun, they said,” Logan muttered as sweat dripped down his temples, pushing his wheels forward on the small path, “It’s not even a big maze, they said. Well, bullshit.”

With a grunt, he rolled into a clearing.

Logan blinked around the flattened circle of grass. Was this the center? He sighed a breath of relief as his wheels didn’t squeal in protest. Even ground,  _how I missed you_! He looked up and bit down on a scream.

A man hung from a post with his arms out and his legs limp. A big hat, much like the farmers here, hung low on his head. He didn’t know it was a human practice to hang their dead in the middle of corn mazes. Logan rolled forward as he squinted up at it. He took in a hard sniff.

Straw and dirt.

Not the rot of flesh and bone.

Logan tilted his head as he remembered Virgil’s huff of laughter from earlier. Fake. This man must be one of those costumed creatures walking out there tonight. Logan raised up a hand to touch it when--

“Whoa there, pardner,” a deep voice drawled, Logan snapped his hand back, “Awfully rude to touch me without even introducing yourself first.”

Logan looked up and his gills stuttered in surprise. The scarecrow had a face underneath its dark brim. The eyes were crossed black stitches and its mouth hung open with yellow teeth that reminded him of the sea snakes in the shallows. Sharp and thin and too many to fit in its stuffed head. Logan raised an eyebrow, he could’ve sworn the creature had a stitched mouth earlier.

“Oh excuse me,” Logan said as he smoothed his hands down his lap, “My name is Logan. I apologize. Your culture is still new to me.”

Silence echoed through the yawning fields for a few moments.

The man cackled, its whole body rocked the pole with the force of it. Logan dug his claws into the metal armrests. It was the truth!

“For a creature concerned with my rudeness, you don’t consider your own,” Logan snarled, “I should hope to learn your name in retaliation.”

“No, it’s just funny, I’m not human either,” the man giggled, the sound made his fins itch to propel himself far and fast, “And my name, sir? Why it’s been so long,” it looked up at the moonlight, “Call me Scarecrow.”

“You’re wrong! I’m a human!” Logan shouted up to it.

Scarecrow slowly looked down at him, “No, you’re not. I can smell the sea right off ya. I’ve never had fish in so long…” its mouth opened to an impossible length, as rows of teeth caught the moonlight, “I’ve kept all the crows away. Away, away, little birdies! Why I’m a little hungry now after my hard work.”

_Shit._

Scarecrow smiled as it jostled in its post again. He could tell the jig was up. Logan couldn’t hide the truth from another….creature. A different species of other Scarecrows? He shoved the questions aside about the cruelty of humans stringing something alive in their fields.

Logan wheeled back, “You won’t find me easy prey. I’m a formidable predator myself,” Logan bared his teeth as his eyes glinted in the moonlight, “Sharks have met messier ends at my hands.”

Scarecrow’s smile disappeared, “You’re out of your fishbowl, little goldfish.”

Logan bristled and opened his mouth when--

Wood splintered and cracked like a thunderclap in the hushed fields. Logan thrust his arms up against the blast. Wood debris bounced off his arms but tore his sweater into rags. Damn it, Thomas gave him this one for ‘Christmas’. Logan squinted into the darkness, ears straining for any sound, any footfall.

Up high above the fields stood a lonely post.

And no Scarecrow.

A guttural snarl cut the night as a gaping maw of teeth overcame his vision. The wheelchair clattered against the ground, wheels spinning uselessly in their sockets, blankets sodden against the dirt. Blood splattered the homemade designs of stars and planets. Splatters of red against the milky blue of Neptune. Ripping and snarls echoed through the air.

Then silence.

The corn rustled indifferently, the reeds whispering against each other, as the fireflies danced above the maze. Flowers bloomed drinking in the cool moonlight, petals delicately held up to its pale face. Mice twist and turn in their homes as they slept. Then blink one beady eye open as footsteps stomped through the quiet peace of the evening.

“Logan!” Virgil shouted, his voice crackling after screaming himself near hoarse, “Where are you?!”

Flashlights swept through the corn stalks. The murmur of people and the static of radios. Virgil ran a hand through his sweat-drenched hair. It only took the others to find the center and get back out again in twenty minutes. Not...not two hours! Shit, he’s heard stories of people going missing or even found dead in corn mazes.

He wanted to curse his own stupidity. It could stand to reason that if mermaids existed, why not others? Flashbacks of Bigfoot and Wikipedia rabbit holes of various cryptids ran through his mind. If he found a Child of the Corn, he’ll be drop-kicking them before Thomas can break out the lollipops.

He wanted his fucking boyfriend back.

Virgil pushed aside the stalks to the center of the maze. He’s swept this place so many times in the past two hours. Like every ten minutes but he never saw hide nor hair of the missing mermaid. The police chattered into their radios but the sound grew distant.

Virgil’s flashlight landed on a straw-covered mass next to a knocked over wheelchair. He tore out into a run as he made a strangled noise of  _Logan_! Virgil muttered curses as Logan blinked blearily up at him. Blood trickled down his temple and faint scratches down his arms. Virgil swore bloody murder as he saw ripped fins up and down his arms.

“My….tail…” Logan said, his voice strained with the effort, “The others…”

Virgil looked down and red mist overcame his vision. More ripped fins and long red scratches like someone jabbed a knife and went to town on his boyfriend. Virgil pulled Logan into a hug, relief overcoming his anger and fear for a brief moment, reveling in the fact he was alive.

“Don’t you know?” Virgil huffed out a hysterical laugh, “It’s Halloween night. They’ll think it’s a realistic costume,” then in a lower voice as the others came close to the center, “God, Lo, what even happened? I walked through here and every inch of this maze for two hours,” his voice wobbled with choked back tears, “Where did you  _go_?”

Logan blinked and then pointed a claw at a mess of fabric, “I met Scarecrow.”

Virgil looked at the dark lump and then back at Logan, “What are you talking about? There’s never been a scarecrow here. It’s just a corn maze.”

“Well, there isn’t one anymore.”

**Author's Note:**

> and that's all folks!
> 
> I can't believe this turned into a 2k beast. I wanted it to be less than 1k *sob* how did it end up like this??
> 
> and if ya liked it!! leave some kudos and comments <333 esp if you want me to keep going with this challenge! 
> 
> and happy first day of Halloween!!!


End file.
